Gao Laozhuang

Gao Laozhuang

Gao Laozhuang

It just so happened that besides the Flowing Sands River, there was another Gao Laozhuang on the other side of Wensu County. Since Gao Laozhuang is relatively close to Wensu County, we took the route of going from the farthest to the nearest. That is, we first "subdued" Sha Wujing, and then came to Gao Laozhuang to tame Zhu Bajie. Although this arrangement disrupted the chapters of Journey to the West, I personally believe it does not affect people’s fondness for the character of Zhu Bajie.

Among the local people in Wensu County, Gao Laozhuang is clearly more famous than the Flowing Sands River. The reason for this, apart from the fact that Zhu Bajie’s personality in Journey to the West is closer to real life, is also inseparable from a man named Song Ke in Wensu County.

I began my trip to Gao Laozhuang early the morning after returning from the Flowing Sands River. In my imagination, Gao Laozhuang should have been a village with small bridges, flowing streams, winding paths leading to secluded spots, and nestled among green trees. However, what I didn’t expect was that this Gao Laozhuang turned out to be a desolate graveyard on a high platform at the edge of Wensu County.

I visited several local Uyghur residents near the high platform (locally called Kanpo). When talking about Gao Laozhuang, they often smiled and said: Gao Laozhuang is just Gao Laozhuang. As for how the name Gao Laozhuang actually came about, it seemed that no one could explain clearly.

The Uyghur translator who accompanied me on the interview was a very enthusiastic middle-aged man. He told me that the Gao Laozhuang on the high platform was the old Gao Laozhuang, while the current Gao Laozhuang is located in the canyon on the side of the high platform. Then he explained: it’s all legends. If even the experts can’t figure it out, how would ordinary people know?

We walked down from the high platform, made a few turns, and entered the canyon. The scenery inside the valley was indeed as I had imagined, with dense weeping willows and even a group of chirping little birds.

After walking along the small river at the bottom of the valley for a while and turning around a small bridge, a garden suddenly appeared before our eyes. We had arrived at Song Ke’s Gao Laozhuang.

In 1969, after Song Ke came to Wensu County, he heard that there was a place called Gao Laozhuang locally. Song Ke was a fan of Journey to the West. Upon hearing such a thing, he naturally wouldn’t give up easily. Unfortunately, although the story of Gao Laozhuang had been passed down locally for many years and some people had even spent a long time verifying its authenticity, by 2002, Gao Laozhuang was still that messy graveyard on the high platform.

In 2003, Song Ke gave up his small commodity wholesale business and began studying

Journey to the West. By the summer of 2005, the Gao Laozhuang in Song Ke’s mind had taken shape. Thus, covering an area of 20 acres and including the Gao Family Courtyard, the Gao Family Second Palace, the Thunder Temple, as well as a classical garden architecture complex integrating sculptures of various mythical figures from Journey to the West stories—Gao Laozhuang transformed from a story in Journey to the West into reality.

The design, site selection, and construction of Song Ke’s Gao Laozhuang seemed to be a continuation of the mythological stories of Journey to the West. The entire Gao Laozhuang, with a total investment of over 5 million yuan, was conceptualized entirely in Song Ke’s mind, then sketched by him, and finally constructed. What surprised me the most was the Thunder Temple within Gao Laozhuang. In addition to sculptures of Sakyamuni and the Tang Monk and his disciples, the temple walls also featured 100 murals painted by skilled artists invited from inland China, based on the chapters of Journey to the West. Song Ke’s devotion to Journey to the West culture was fully displayed here.

Song Ke’s research on Journey to the West is far from over. What concerns him the most are the fates of the characters directly connected to Gao Laozhuang. For example, what ethnic group the owner of Gao Laozhuang, Gao Yuanwai, belonged to, how Gao Yuanwai became wealthy, where Zhu Bajie actually came from, and the love story between Zhu Bajie and Gao Cuilan, among others.